Spangle: The Center Ring

by Gary Jennings Book 2 in the Spangle series.

First published 1999

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4.2(25)

Florian’s Florilegium crosses the Atlantic and enters a Europe being reorganised by nationalism, dynastic rivalry and modern war. The troupe expands its repertoire and reputation as it travels through Italy and the Habsburg lands, where circus business must adapt to different languages, laws and court expectations. Zachary Edge’s authority grows with the show, but relationships among owners, performers and animals remain vulnerable to ambition and jealousy.

The tour places the company in the newly created Kingdom of Italy and at the court of Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. The Austro-Prussian War and the political settlement that follows it change borders and loyalties around the travelling performers. Royal patronage can raise the circus’s status, but the volume repeatedly contrasts the glitter of court society with the labour and danger concealed behind the centre ring.